The Death of Duo Maxwell
by Dem0nFl0wer
Summary: 1xR. ?x?. Trowa Barton just passed the bar. His first case is a surprisingly high profile for some one with his lack of experience. He is assigned to the defense of Heero Yuy, congressman and possible murderer of one Duo Maxwell.


The Death of Duo Maxwell  
  
  
The Ritz, Christmas Eve  
Duo Maxwell was drunk. Soooo drunk, he thought, as he chuckled to himself. He waded his way through the crowd of people, smiling as he grabbed a champagne flute, winking at a group of girls who were giggling in his direction. They giggled more, and he recognized one of them to be the daughter of Senator Bloom. These political shindigs were always interesting, and the annual Christmas party tended to be most interesting of all. He caught the eye of his friend Quatre Winner, waving at the senator, before disappearing back into the crowd.  
  
As interesting as the night could have been, though, he realized he didn't want to be a part of it. Smiling façade aside, he felt tired. Still, Duo smiled as Relena appeared in front of him, even as small vestiges of guilt appeared in his eyes. She was beautiful as always, dressed in a sleek black and purple pantsuit that screamed Versace. She made his way towards him, smiling, wrapping her arm around his in a regal manner.  
  
"Mr. Maxwell," she said, eyes far off as she acknowledged the other politicians trying to get her attention. "I thought I could offer you a ride home."  
  
Duo nodded, knowing he wouldn't be getting home for awhile yet, and followed Relena out to her car. Relena deserved to know, and he would tell her.  
  
  
Krushenada and Marquise Law Firm, Three Hours Later  
"The press is going to have a field day with this." Zechs sighed, obviously upset, shuffling through papers that had no business being shuffled. "It really is both a nightmare and a blessing for the firm, I suppose..."  
  
"Can we win?"  
  
Zechs looked up at the newest and youngest member of Krushenada And Marquise Law Firm, brow furrowed in annoyance. Cool green eyes gazed back at his own glacier blue, unruffled by Zech's current state of agitation. "Well, I suppose we'll have to wait until we talk to the defendant, won't we, Barton?"  
  
The lawyers of K&M sat around the rectangular table of their conference room, none of them particularly happy to be there. Scowls decorated each face save two. Trowa Barton's visage was, as usual, completely unreadable, and Zechs Marquise was at least trying to maintain an air of non-antipathy. It was somewhat difficult, though, considering they had just been called into work at one in the morning on Christmas of all days. And to make things worse for the other lawyers, Zechs refused to tell them what was going on until his partner Treize got there.  
  
Trowa inwardly sighed, hoping this little trip to the office wouldn't be complete waste of time. He had no doubt the case would be important, Treize wouldn't call them up like this if it wasn't, but he doubted he would be assigned to it. Trowa Barton was, after all, the newest and youngest member of Krushenada and Marquise Law Firm. It didn't matter that he had graduated from Harvard law school at the top of his class, passed the bar at age twenty-one, and was more heavily recruited than any other new lawyer in Boston. The fact of the matter was he had no real experience in the courtroom, and a case of this caliber would definitely not be given to a rookie.  
  
"Sorry I'm late!" Just then Treize Krushenada rushed in, breathless, a huge grin on his face. "But I've got absolutely fantastic news...well, not fantastic, not for Heero by any means, but fantastic for the firm, for the money and publicity we'll be getting-"  
  
"Treize!" A young lawyer by the name of Walker interrupted Treize's ramblings, no doubt frustrated. "Will you please just tell us what is going on."  
  
"Of course." Treize composed himself somewhat, taking the seat opposite Zechs at one end of the table. "It's just that a case like this doesn't come along to often. As it happens, I just got back from bailing Heero Yuy out of jail."  
  
That drew the room's attention.  
  
"Heero Yuy?" asked Walker. "You don't mean Heero Yuy the congressman."  
  
"There's no other Heero Yuy of importance, is there?" Treize smiled slyly, obviously waiting for some one to ask him what Mr. Yuy was, in fact, in jail for.  
  
"Oh, for God's sake, Treize, stop playing your little mind games." Zechs threw his partner a short look of frustration before turning to the other lawyers. "Heero was arrested on the charge of murder."  
  
There was a loud thud as Walker fell out of the chair he had so precariously been leaning on before, and Wufei Chang snorted at the news. Trowa heard him mumble something scornfully under his breath, something that sounded a little like "sick politicians".  
  
Zechs continued after Walker got back up onto his seat. "Of course, Heero wants Treize and I to take on the case, but we'll be indisposed until the Dickens trial is over. So Barton, you'll be leading, with Walker and Chang on assist."  
  
Zech's decision was met by silence. Some of that, to be sure, was of the incredulous nature, as no one could believe Trowa had gotten the case.  
  
"You're kidding!" Wufei threw Trowa a furious glare. "Why should Barton get to act as head lawyer on this case?"  
  
"Because he's our rainmaker." Treize shot the room a brilliant smile, obviously happy with his decision. "The press already knows him from the Barlow and Wilson case-"  
  
"Where he was an intern."  
  
"Nevertheless, the press knows him, and it will be all the more publicity for the firm if he was on the case."  
  
Wufei looked as though he was about to burst from indignation. His jaw was clenched together, setting his mouth in a straight, nearly lipless line, and little lines were starting to appear all up and down his forward. "He can be on the case and be assisting."  
  
Even Trowa didn't agree with Treize's logic, but he wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. "I can do it."  
  
"Then it's settled!" Zechs let out a large breath, concluding the matter as he handed out the files in his hands. "These are transcriptions of what the Yuy family told the police- there are three of them, mother, father, and daughter, fourteen-year-old girl by the name of Himiko. You'll be meeting with the client and his family Monday here at eight o'clock, the trial is scheduled for that afternoon."  
  
With that statement Zechs stood up and grabbed his things, nearly running out of the room. The others took that as a clear sign to leave, and started gathering their things. In a minute Trowa and Treize were the only people left, and they walked out together.  
  
"Trowa," Treize started, "I have no doubt you can win this case. You're talented, no one can doubt that, and this experience is just what you need."  
  
Trowa nodded. "Treize, who is Mr. Yuy being accused of murdering?"  
  
Treize frowned a little. "Ah, yes, that's the tragic part. Apparently some young man who was having an affair with his wife, name of Duo Maxwell."  
  
* * *  
  
Trowa munched on a sugar cookie as he read through the transcripts again, crumbs falling onto the crisp white paper. Every so often he would reach for the nearby cup of buttered rum he had on hand, or roll from side to side on his bed. Apparently, the fact that this was a rather depressing way to spend the holidays was lost on him. He didn't seem to mind reading and rereading the transcripts, looking for any discrepancies or other angles. But although he couldn't shake off the instinct that something was off, all three stories told the same thing...  
  
Heero made his way through the party, forcing himself to smile whenever he came face to face with a fellow politician or with some one who had donated money to his last campaign. He didn't know why he had become a politician over all the options he had open to him, but he had, unconventional personality or no. He remembered, vaguely, that it had something to do with Relena's vision of their future. Really, he just wanted to find Relena and go home. It was already ten, so he didn't think any one would mind if he left just then. The problem was, though, finding Relena.  
  
"Senator Winner." Heero walked up to the blond figure he just now saw, who gave him a strange look before nodding hello. "You wouldn't happened to have seen my wife Relena, have you?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." Quatre Winner opened his mouth to say more when some one else caught his attention and he disappeared back into the fray. Heero frowned a little, turning around to look some more. After ten minutes and nine fruitless conversations, however, he found himself outside the hotel with no idea where his wife was.  
  
"Mr. Yuy."  
  
Heero turned around at the sound of his name, finding himself in front of the hotel doorman.  
  
"Would you like me to call you a cab?"  
  
"A cab?"  
  
"Yes, your wife just left a moment ago in your car."  
  
"Oh." Heero bristled a little at the fact that his wife hadn't informed him of his plans. "Yes, thank you."  
  
The ride home was uneventful, Heero pulling up into the driveway a few minutes after he had gotten into the cab, blessing the fact that there was no traffic on the roads. He slid into the house, careful not to wake any one, and slowly made his way upstairs. A peek into Himiko's bedroom found the girl asleep, and Heero was about to go into his bedroom when a nose from inside the room gave him pause. They were footsteps... not unusual, necessarily, since Relena should have been in there, but these were a lot heavier than Relena's footsteps. Heero snuck into the study next door, heart beating wildly, as he groped for the gun the family kept hidden at the top of a book shelf. Possible scenarios ran through his mind. It could have been a thief, or even maybe an assassin. Heero was definitely not prepared, however, to make his way into his room to find his wife laying on the bed, clothes torn, her wrists held above her head by a man towering above her. Heero's anger rose slightly above his fear seeing the would be rapist, and he raised the gun with shaky hands.  
  
"Get the hell off my wife!"  
  
The next few moments were filled with confusion, and all Heero knew was that the man seemed to be lurching at him, and he closed his eyes even as his fingers tightened around the gun. A loud, crisp sound filled the air, grotesque as it ripped across the room, and he heard a body fall lifeless onto the ground. Himiko ran in a few minutes later, awakened by the noise, to see her mother sobbing on the bed and just in time to hear her explain the truth.  
  
The man, now lifeless on the floor, was named Duo Maxwell. He wasn't a rapist; he was her lover, and she had been having an affair with him for a little over a year now. Right before Heero had shot him he had tripped.  
  
Heero called the police.  
  
* * *  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Yuy were a handsome couple, befitting their political backgrounds. Their daughter, naturally, was also distinctly beautiful, combining her Japanese and European ancestries seamlessly.  
  
"Mr. Yuy-"  
  
"Call me Heero."  
  
Trowa nodded. "I don't think you need to worry. No jury will convict you, not while you were just trying to protect your family."  
  
"So we plead self-defense?"  
  
"It's the obvious thing to do." Trowa went on, explaining his strategy. Heero and his wife listened intently, Heero's face twisted into an almost scowl. Wufei and Walker were busy glaring at Trowa behind his back, still upset, but Trowa wasn't having a difficult time ignoring them. If they wanted to act like children he wasn't going to comment.  
  
They spent the rest of the morning questioning the family, filling in gaps with details, preparing them for the prosecution. By the time they broke for lunch Trowa was in fairly high spirits, assured that their case was impeccable.  
  
"Hey, Trowa!"   
  
Trowa turned around at his name, surprised to see Walker running up to him.  
  
"Hey. Are you going downstairs for lunch?"  
  
Trowa nodded as Walker put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Great. I'll join you."  
  
Their law firm was situated in a down town office building, with a bar and restaurant on the lobby floor. Most of the people who worked in the building congregated there during lunch and after hours, since it was the most convenient place to go. When the two lawyers got there, the hostess led them to a small table, handing them menus they didn't really need but would look over any way.  
  
"Hey, Trowa, sorry me and Wufei have been giving you such a hard time lately. Jealous, you know, here you are, talented and cute-"  
  
"Cute?" Trowa would have sputtered on the water he was drinking if he had been a different person, but as it was he was far too collected a person.  
  
"Well, yeah." Walker flashed him a disarming smile before continuing. "So what do you think of the Yuy family?"  
  
Trowa shrugged. "Typical. They look nice on the outside, but... well, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole lot of them where dysfunctional. Relena did cheat on her husband, after all."  
  
"And there's the little fact that he's a murderer."  
  
"Self-defense."  
  
"Of course."   
  
The two lawyers quieted down as the waitress came back and took their orders, but Walker quickly turned back to the conversation at hand.  
  
"Did you sense the tension in that room?"  
  
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Tension?"  
  
"The unadulterated hostility that was floating in the air. Coming from no less than Heero Yuy."  
  
Trowa snorted, even though he had felt it too. They were silent a while, then, "Who do you think it was directed towards?"  
  
"His wife." Walker lowered his voice over the dim of patrons, leaning forward towards Trowa. "It wouldn't surprise me if Heero knew about the affair, if he just got mad and killed the competition."  
  
Trowa nodded. He had, in fact, been thinking the same thing. The rest of their lunch was uneventful, and soon they found themselves at the back of the building, escorting the Yuys into a waiting limo and towards the courtroom. The front of their office building was crowded with reporters, as was the courthouse, but they managed to get through them without anything eventful happening.  
  
And the trial, once it got started, was smooth sailing. Relena and Heero both took the witness stand, answering questions thrown at them just as Trowa and the other lawyers had told them to. It was the prosecution's turn now, though, and the lawyers of K&M were more than a little surprised at the turn of events that happened next.  
  
Dorothy Catalonia, the head lawyer for the other side, turned towards Trowa, a cocky grin on her face. "The prosecution calls Quatre Winner."  
  
Trowa turned towards Heero, sitting beside him at the table, whispering harshly. "What the hell does Winner have to do with this?"  
  
Heero's frown deepened, but he only shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
The crowd quieted as Quatre took the stand, apprehension clear on his features.  
  
"Do you swear on this Bible that you will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"  
  
"I do."   
  
The bailiff left the stand as Dorothy approached, smiling sweetly at the politician in the chair.  
  
"Mr. Winner, how do you know Mr. Yuy?"  
  
"We've worked together before, and we meet quite often, working in the same field and all."  
  
"Did you see Mr. Yuy the night he killed Duo Maxwell?"  
  
"Well," Quatre shifted nervously in his seat, "Not really."  
  
Dorothy rose an elegantly sculpted eyebrow. "Not really? Would you like to expound on that?"  
  
"Well, we were attending a Christmas Party, the one thrown by the Allen Foundation. There were a lot of democratic politicians there, as well as party contributors. It's almost a duty for me to make an appearance, and I'm sure Heero's in the same situation. Well, it was the middle of the party, and I was just heading into the bathroom when I heard voices coming from inside of it. One of them was too light to hear any clear cut words, but I was sure it was Duo's. So I made to push the door open when another voice came through. Heero Yuy's voice. He had said, 'This affair has to stop...or else'. Then the door opened and I was knocked backwards. When I got up again Heero had left down the hallway."  
  
"I see. So Heero Yuy knew about the affair?"  
  
"That would be my assumption, yes." Quatre looked over at Heero, eyes slightly saddened as he inwardly condemned the other man. "I liked Duo. He was a good friend."  
  
* * *  
  
Trowa stormed into the court's back room, flinging his briefcase on the table in between the Yuy-Peacecrafts. The couple stepped away from each other, effectively interrupted from the conversation they were having.  
  
"How the hell are we going to say you thought Duo was assaulting your wife when you knew about the affair all along?" Trowa couldn't really help exploding. His first real case, which he had thought would be an open and shut deal, had all gone to pot. "How am I supposed to do this when my client doesn't even tell me the truth?"  
  
Heero shifted a little, glaring at the floor. "You're my lawyer, think of something."  
  
"You threatened him." Wufei's eyes narrowed. "You no doubt killed him as well, and not out of noble intentions."  
  
Trowa cradled his face in his hands. "What the hell are we going to do? Heero..."  
  
"..."  
  
Trowa looked up at his client. "Heero. Could you please just tell me the truth?"  
  
The congressman ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the chocolate brown. "I don't know what to say really. It's all like I told you before, except, well, I knew."  
  
"Like Heero said, it's basically the same story," Relena said, interrupting the lawyer and his client. "But Heero had known. For how long I don't know, but that night he had told Duo that it had to end. That must have been what Quatre had overheard. I left with Duo that night, Heero walked in on us, he got mad. After everything was said and done we panicked, called the police, and told them that story. When we met with you what were we supposed to do, go back and tell the truth?"  
  
"Yes!" Trowa shook his head. His mind ran through countless ways to savage the situation, to still win, but none of them seemed as though they would work. And he still got the feeling that the couple was keeping something from him, if not all out lying. "The truth would have been helpful."  
  
Walker twirled a pencil between his fingers. "So we say Duo and Relena were fighting. Duo was about to physically assault her when Heero came home and shot him. Then we could still use the self-defense angle."  
  
"But that goes against our earlier testimony. Heero had acted against an attempted rape, not an assault. If we try to say differently the jury will wonder why we lied in the first place. If we had known the truth from the start we could have lied properly to begin with!"  
  
"Fraid not." Wufei waved a manilla folder in the air in a distracted manner, mind keen on developing a plan of action. "Police transcripts. We were screwed from the beginning."  
  
"So what the hell to we do?" Trowa closed his eyes, massaging his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Okay. The way I see it this is our only feasible option. We stick with self-defense, say Duo was physically assaulting Relena. The couple panicked, they lied to the police, they're only human. We'll see what the jury thinks."  
  
"And what if the prosecution has more surprises for us?"  
  
"Then we deal with them as they come up." Trowa turned to look at Heero. "Unless you'd like to tell us beforehand what they might be."  
  
"There won't be any more."  
  
Trowa nodded, content though unsatisfied with Heero's answer. "Fine. But Himiko's scheduled to take the stand next."  
  
The young girl looked up at him, breaking the silence she had maintained through the proceedings so far. "I'm ready."  
  
The courtroom was abuzz as they entered it again, and it took a few moments for the bailiff to get every one to calm done. Too soon, though, Himiko was seated on the stand, and Trowa was making his way in front of her. He only needed to ask one question. "Himiko, could you please tell us what happened that night?"  
  
Himiko was silent for so long Trowa thought she wasn't going to answer, and was about to ask the question again when she finally started speaking.  
  
"I didn't go to the Christmas party, I was home by myself. Mother came home first, without my father, but with some one else. I knew she had been having an affair for a long time, even though my father had just found out. I knew she was cheating on my daddy." Himiko blinked back tears, looking at her mother darkly. "Do you know what that's like? Do you know what it's like to know your mother's sleeping with another man? I knew my father kept a gun in the study. So I went down to get it – and I shot Duo Maxwell!"  
  
The courtroom erupted. Heero stared at his daughter with a horrified look on his face, and the judge was trying to bring order to the chaos that had broken out. Once things had died down a little another recess was called, and Trowa all but dragged Heero and his family into the back room. Once there he turned on Himiko.  
  
"What was that? That wasn't what we told you to say!"  
  
Himiko gazed back at him with even eyes. "Your plan wouldn't have worked. My dad would have been sent to prison if I had left it to you."  
  
Trowa turned to face Heero. "Did you put her up to this?"  
  
Heero's eyes narrowed. As he shot an indignant look at the lawyer "Of course not. I would never tell my daughter to take the fall for me."  
  
Trowa sighed, facing Himiko once again. "Don't you know what you're getting into? You could go to jail for this."  
  
"No jury would convict me. I'm just a little girl trying to save her father."  
  
"Lying in court is a serious offense."  
  
"Are you so sure I'm lying?"  
  
Trowa backed up, staring down at the girl. The room was silent for a little bit before Trowa barked out orders to Walker. "I'd like to talk to Mr. Yuy alone, please."  
  
Walker nodded, ushering the other inhabitants of the room out, and Trowa turned to face his client.  
  
"Are you covering for your daughter?"  
  
Heero glared at him, not saying anything.  
  
"I'd just- I'd just like to know. Client confidentiality, Heero, no one else has to know."  
  
"She didn't kill Duo."  
  
Trowa clenched his fingers around the wooden table. That wasn't really the answer he wanted to hear, but he didn't really know what was. His instincts were telling him that Heero Yuy didn't do it, didn't pull the trigger, but he had no idea who did.  
  
"If you're lying-"  
  
"I'm not." Heero's even stare broke for a second before reestablishing itself. "I want to change my plea to guilty."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm changing my plea. As my lawyer, I suggest you go and inform the court."  
  
Trowa blinked, wondering if Heero really was covering for Himiko. "Fine."  
  
The Night of the Murder  
Duo felt weary, somehow, and he had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with Heero Yuy and the conversation they had held a few minutes earlier. So Heero wanted it to end... a perfectly natural reaction, Duo supposed, but he didn't want to give up on the affair just yet. Really, he didn't ever want to give up on the affair. Inner voices seemed to whisper fate into his ears, though he thought if it were fate the affair would have never started to begin with. If it were fate then Relena Peacecraft would have never married Heero Yuy, and she would be free to... but then, such thoughts were hardly productive. All he knew was the right thing to do would be to talk to Relena, to let her know what had happened.  
  
It was then that woman appeared, and he readily accepted the invitation she threw out. The two left, Duo ready to bring up the inevitable conversation, when all too soon the car had stopped.  
  
"But this is your house." Duo looked at Relena, who had an odd sort of expression on her face.  
  
"I thought we could talk in a more comfortable environment."  
  
Soon Duo found himself in Relena and Hero's bedroom, wondering how the woman had maneuvered him there, taking in the familiar decorations. "Relena, we have to talk. Heero-"  
  
"I know." Relena interrupted his proclamation, back turned on him, digging in a dresser drawer for something.  
  
Duo's eyes widened a little, and he was about to question the girl when a shot rang out, somehow distant in his ears despite the proximity. Some force had thrown him back against the wall, and a sharp pain was pulsing from his abdomen. Something liquid and coppery slid from the corner of his mouth as he reached towards his stomach, feeling the slickness that now covered his clothes. He could almost feel the wound through the fabric, the gaping hole that was there.   
  
A second later Heero stepped into the room, eyes wide with shock and guilt. "Duo."  
  
Present Time  
Trowa watched, back in the law firm, as Heero made a statement to the press. Mrs. Yuy stood beside him in the small room. The judge and jury had been lenient, and Yuy probably wouldn't have to serve more than a year in prison, if that. K&M would undoubtedly appeal later on and win.  
  
"That couldn't have gone any better, I suppose."  
  
Trowa looked over at Relena, frowning. "It was a mess."  
  
Relena shrugged. "He'll serve a few months, be released, and be even more popular than ever. The man who went to jail for his daughter. The public already loves it. His political career will be even stronger once he returns to it."  
  
Relena turned towards him and smiled, and Trowa thought the expression looked rather ugly on her.  
  
"This really was a textbook situation, though. A man finds his wife in bed with another man, and kills him in a jealous rage. Except it was fairly more unconventional than that."  
  
Trowa blinked, eyes narrowed at the woman in front of him. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"They say there are only two things that will kill a man's political career. Being found in bed with a dead girl, and being found in bed with a live boy. My husband was gay, Mr. Barton. Duo Maxwell was his lover. I shot him."  
  
With that statement Relena Peacecraft-Yuy got up from her seat and walked out of the room, pumps clicking on the marble floor, her story finally unraveled to Trowa and his seals of client confidentiality. So that was it.  
  
The Night of the Murder  
Heero sat stiffly in the back seat of his car, wife silent as she sat beside him. It had been awhile, if ever, since they had last had a decent conversation, and tonight was no different. So they sat in stillness, in a calm that might have been awkward if it hadn't been so familiar, awaiting the minute they would arrive at the annual Christmas party.  
  
"Heero," said Relena, and the man was surprised that she had broken their tradition. "I know about the whore you've been seeing."  
  
Heero's head swerved towards Relena, taking in her perfectly casual appearance. "He's not a whore."  
  
"So what would you call the piece of trash you've been sleeping with for the last year?"  
  
Heero bristled, angry at Relena's attitude towards the other man. His next words were cutting. "He's my lover, Relena, and I care for him more than I ever have you."  
  
Relena finally looked at her husband, open rage in her eyes. "He will ruin your career, Heero, and I can't let that happen after all I've done to build it. I am comfortable in my current position, and he will not take it away from me. And worse of all he is an insult. To you, to Himiko, and most of all, to me. And I will not tolerate it."  
  
Heero heard the malice in Relena's voice, heard the anger, and was about to attempt to placate her when she swung open the door and left. They were at the hotel.  
  
An angry Relena was not something to take lightly, as Heero knew from her own career in politics. And a woman scorned, well... he wasn't about to face that danger. Most of all, though, he worried for Duo, thinking of what Relena may do to him now that she knew. Duo's fledging career was unstable at best right now, and Relena's connections would easily make sure that it crumbled. And Relena could also somehow sabotage his economic situation, or several other aspects of his life. And Heero knew, then, that he had to break it off.   
  
Heero stumbled through the party, looking for his lover, when a pair of bright amaryllis eyes caught his attention. He nodded towards the bathroom, heading there to wait for the other man. It was empty, fortunately, and when Duo finally came in he locked the door behind them, Duo falling naturally into his arms.  
  
"Heero." Duo leaned forward to press his lips against Heero's own, and Heero eagerly returned it before pulling away, Duo's hands falling into his.   
  
"Duo, we have to talk."  
  
Duo smiled, a lopsided thing, in a self-deprecatory kind of way. "No good conversation ever started with that line."  
  
Heero nodded, thumbs running over soft flesh, and decided to just be curt. "We have to break it off."  
  
"What? Why?" Duo tore his hands from Heero's grasp, turning away from the other man. "What the hell is this about?"  
  
"Relena... I'm afraid she might do something, maybe drastic, if we don't end it."  
  
"I'm not afraid of your wife, Heero."  
  
"You don't know what she's capable of." Heero reached out towards Duo, only to have the boy step out of his grasp. He was happy, though, that Duo had turned around to face him.  
  
"So leave her."  
  
"I can't-"  
  
"Why? Is it your career?" Duo flashed him an indignant look. "It's between your career and me, and you've made your choice."  
  
"No!" Heero took a deep breath, thinking over his words. "It's not that easy. I have Himiko to think about."  
  
Duo nodded. He could understand that, albeit reluctantly.   
  
"I just... this affair has to stop. Or else..." Heero's voice dropped as he looked at Duo. "I don't know what Relena would do."  
  
Duo looked away and Heero left the bathroom, his paces a little quicker than normal lest he lose whatever conviction he held.  
  
Heero lost himself into the party, mingling with every one even as inside he contemplated the events of the night. After awhile, though, he realized he hadn't seen either Relena or Duo. An irrational fear grasped his psyche, and he ran out, paging down the doorman.   
  
"Have you seen my wife?"  
  
The shorter man nodded. "Left a few minutes ago with another man from the party, long brown hair, tied in a braid."  
  
Duo. Heero stopped, leaning against one of the hotel columns, as he thought this new information over. Relena wouldn't hurt Duo, not physically... but they were together now. He quickly jumped into a nearby taxi, shouting out instructions to his house, knowing he would never forgive himself if anything happened to Duo.   
  
He could only hope, though, that everything would turn out all right.  
  
  
~owari~   



End file.
